If you open the pages of ELLE Canada's January issue, there's nothing out of the ordinary about the model photographed by John Van Der Schilden. She's gorgeous, blonde, skinny, and looks stunning in fall 2013 Louis Vuitton.

Only her story is a bit different than most models featured on the pages of ELLE. She's Jenna Talackova, whom you might remember as the woman who was disqualified from the 2012 Miss Universe contest because she had been born a man. Talackova, who underwent gender reassignment surgery and identifies as female, successfully petitioned the contest to allow transgender contestants in the future.

Today, in addition to covering the pages of ELLE Canada, she's starring in her own reality show, Brave New Girl, which follows her move to Toronto to pursue a career in fashion and make her mark on the world of pop culture. (The show airs on E! Canada starting January 19).

To find out more about Talackova's story and how it came to be featured in ELLE, we talked to ELLE Canada editor in chief Noreen Flanagan.

"We were interested in her story," Flanagan told us. "She's a Canadian girl, we're familiar with what she's gone through, readers are just genuinely inspired by her courage and tenacity." Simple as that. Of course it was good timing considering Talackova was also taping a reality show. (Her ELLE Canada shoot will feature on episode three.)

When asked if she had any reservation about featuring Talackova Flanagan replied quickly, "It was never a concern. It allowed us to explore a topic that's of interest to our readers," she continued. "We're pretty open minded here in Canada."

Flanagan also added that Talackova could not have been more lovely on set. "I think it was quite a special day for her," she said. "[Talackova] said that as a kid she always cut out pages of ELLE and put it on her vision board—so this was a dream come true. She's a very kind and tender person."

To see more of of Talackova's story for ELLE Canada (and to check out a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot) head to ELLE Canada.